Fear of Failure Vs. Fear of Success — What’s the “dif” for my career?

The difference simply depends upon your mindset.  Are you more likely to think in negative terms (e.g., failure) or positive terms (e.g., success)?  Failure is on the same continuum as success.  Fear is used to mask the reality of what you’d truly love to do, be or have, and prevents us from taking responsibility for our career choices.

When people are in low paying jobs where they are miserable, and use their kids’ expenses (kids is the “politically correct” excuse right now) or other excuses for not hiring a career coach to get a much better paying job that they will love, it is a reflection of them not taking responsibility for their career.

We all have a committee of one in our head (aka ego) that loves to chatter.  This chatter reflects conscious and unconscious thought patterns, and reinforces the limiting fears and concerns.  Or, it supports the illusion that you will have a great career someday when other things change.  This keeps us from becoming responsible for our chatter and pursuing a great career: work smarter, have financial freedom, and realize our dreams now. 

If we were to delve slightly deeper into our chatter, we would find that the fear is:

  • normally a fear of the unknown,
  • not being in control of a situation,
  • being right that others are wrong, or
  • avoiding someone else’s poor opinion of us.

 If we were to delve slightly further, you would find that the true fear is:

  • not saying the right thing in an interview,
  • not having your ideas heard,
  • others not making the right decisions on your behalf,
  • not being clear about your career direction,
  • effectively dealing with difficult bosses, employees or co-workers, and/or
  • making difficult ethical decisions.

The point is that you need to get real about your true fear(s).  When you can specifically state what you fear in your job or having a career that you enjoy, then you can make a positive and profound difference.

Why?  What you focus on will expand.  If you focus on fear, it will consume you, hinder any forward movement and impede your decision-making.  If you focus on your goals and move forward with a specific plan in place, confidence will replace fear.

Steps for Positive Results:

1)     Declare a positive mantra.  This will start you thinking in a different manner.  Without doing so, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to move on to Step Two since your excuses are designed to prevent you from changing anything.

2)     Hire a coach.  WHY?  Usually you will make it harder than it needs to be to achieve results on your own.  We inevitably get in our own way.  Having a coach will support your forward progress to keep you on a positive track.

3)    Design a results oriented goal and focused action plan to move forward, and fine-tune it with your coach.  This will support your results by acknowledging your achievements and reinforcing the positive expansion of them.

 (c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2009

 Jeannette Seibly is a nationally recognized coach, who has helped thousands of people work smarter, have financial freedom, and realize their dreams now.  Along the way, she created three millionaires.  You can contact her:  JLSeibly@gmail.com OR http://SeibCo.com

HIRING in the New World of Work

Written by Jeannette L. Seibly & John W. Howard, PhD

As businesses move into the New World of Work, the challenge has been–and continues to be–our hiring practices!  With the economy finally moving forward and all four generations of workers in the workplace at the same time, it’s imperative that your hiring systems and tools be updated, and represent the best practices available.

Unfortunately, many still endorse some of our old stereotypes about age and work. Consider these stereotypes:

  • Younger workers have more energy than older workers!  (Energy in the workplace has been measured across a broad sample of the workforce, and turns out to be a stable characteristic of individuals, and independent of age.)
  • Older workers are more prone to take time-off, perhaps due to personal, medical or other needs.  (Again, not true – studies have shown just the opposite to be true. Older workers are less prone to take time off, for whatever reasons!)
  • Older workers can’t or won’t learn new skills. (Those over 50 are proving their ability to learn new skills by becoming the fastest growing group of Internet users!)

It’s time to transform our old thought processes and discard some of these conscious and unconscious myths.  Remember, neither conscious nor unconscious discrimination is legally defensible!

Myth #1:           We can hire anyone to do anything.

Perhaps because of our egalitarian underpinnings, we believe in the illusion that we can coach, train and motivate anyone to do anything (despite ample and personal experience to the contrary). Before investing in training, it’s wise to measure and understand whether your candidate for training—including candidates for a new job—has what the astronauts called, “The right stuff.”

Try as you might, train as hard as you know how—you will not succeed in teaching pigs to fly; they simply lack the “right stuff” (namely, wings!)  No matter how motivated the trainer and the pigs, eventually such an effort will just irritate all concerned.

Myth #2:           I’ve always relied on my gut.

While using your “gut” or “intuition” can feel like the right thing to do, it’s far from statistically accurate, and not legally defensible.  Ultimately, our gut feelings are based upon past experiences; we may be trying not to hire the same (unsuitable) person we did before, or trying find someone as great as the person that just left for a better job. Unfortunately, the evidence is compelling that our intuition doesn’t do a very good job of it. People are like icebergs: You only see the tip, the part they wish to show.  You can’t see the 75% that is covered up that will make or break their success in our business.

We rely on our intuition to evaluate interviews, and then base the hiring decision on that evaluation. A study at the University of Michigan concluded that interviews only improved your chances of making a good hire by 2%!

Myth #3:          We simply hire and fire until we find the “right one.”

In the meantime, the other “right” ones have left!   The cost of finding great talent has gone up, quality and customer relations have declined, and your bottom line has been severely impacted!  It’s time to great real about finding the right person for the right job, and help your company accelerate its growth. A detailed analysis of a motel’s operations in a mid-sized American city demonstrated that a “wrong’ hire cost the company $7,200 from the bottom line.

Myth #4:          Any assessment tool will do.

Why don’t more of us use scientific assessments to improve our hiring (and reduce failures and turnover)? Part of the answer lies in lack of education on what is, and how to use, qualified scientific assessment tools.  While the Department of Labor’s recommendations are clear regarding pre-employment tests and tools, many employers disregard common sense and rely upon assessments that don’t comply with employment laws. These compound your risks, rather than reducing them.

While part of our reluctance lies in spending any money to improve our antiquated hiring processes (after all, “Bad hiring decisions” almost never appears as a line item on an accounting document). We argue it will take too much time and energy “to make any changes right now.”  When you recognize that the costs of hiring mistakes are killing you, that you can change course, and that the rewards are well worth the trouble, you’ll change.  Will you change, though, in time to save your company’s opportunities to enjoy great talent, bottom line, customers and reputation in the marketplace?

Myth #5:          We’re already doing the best we can.

 Part of the problem of poor hiring lies with inadequate tools and systems: One comprehensive study of the hiring process indicated that, if an interview is your only tool, you have only a 14% chance of making a good hire. Add good reference checking (and we all know how difficult that can be), it may raise your success ratio to 26%. If your goal is to beat one out of four odds, you need better tools!

Fortunately, the science of assessments has produced increasingly useful tools to add to the art of hiring. While no assessment, or even a combination of assessments, guarantees success, the same study showed that use of personality, abilities, interests, and job matching measures can raise your success rate to 75% or better. Equally important, valid assessment tools in all of those areas can be applied for well below 1% of the projected cost of a bad hire.

Also, using on-line applicant tracking systems not only turns your hiring process “green”, it expands your applicant pool (making it easier to find the right candidates), saves overworked HR people a great deal of time and energy, and helps avoid hiring someone who looks and talks a great game, but can’t play it to win for your business.

© Jeannette L. Seibly and John W. Howard, 2009

Jeannette Seibly, Principal of SeibCo — your partner in developing work and career strategies for selection, results and growth, We improve your bottom line!   Contact SeibCo, LLC @ 303-660-6388, OR JLSeibly@comcast.net  Jeannette is also the author of “Hiring Amazing Employees.”

John W. Howard, Ph.D., owner of Performance Resources, Inc. helps businesses of all sizes increase their profits by reducing their people costs. His clients hire better, fire less, manage better, and keep their top performers. He may be reached at 435.654-5342, OR JWH@prol.ws

Learn Lessons from the Gossip Mill

Gossip has its merits. It keeps people attuned to issues and concerns not otherwise expressed by formal methods of communication. For bosses, it’s a great way to get the pulse of a company while achieving retention and productivity goals. For employees, it’s critical in understanding the unwritten practices and policies of any organization.

However, by its inherent nature, gossip has negative impacts on individuals, groups and companies, and can strain or destroy relationships. People are naturally more likely to spread the negative aspects of what a company or individual has done than the positive ones. It’s impossible to eliminate gossip as long as people use it as a way to vent their frustrations with a person, situation or event; use it as a favorite pastime; or use it as a reason to connect with others and hurt anyone they see as “competition.”

Some people mistakenly believe that if gossip doesn’t matter to them, it shouldn’t matter to others. Handled incorrectly or not at all, gossip can ignite into something explosive that can lead companies to close their doors, good employees to depart for competitors, careers being sabotaged, and the creation of sacrificial lambs. Falsely believing that people shouldn’t be talking about “inside” issues won’t stop the gossip. In some cases, it can actually fuel it! It’s time for an intervention of good PR!

How can you use gossip to promote a positive workplace, while keeping your customers and employees happy and satisfied? How do you effectively handle the inevitable gossip that every company and organization must contend with, both internally and externally?

Talk with people, not about them.

Too often when things don’t go right we immediately seek to blame someone, whether warranted by facts or not, and let others know. Or we hear something and immediately call our closest friend or co-worker to tell them. That’s how most gossip gets started and then escalates. Avoid this problem by talking directly with those involved to get their version of events and focus on the facts. Normally you’ll find that while part of the rumor may be true, it usually is not as detrimental to the project or person(s) involved as it would initially appear. Then, you can bring everyone involved together to discuss a win-win outcome, deal with perceptions and create a positive process or system to move forward.

Be responsible for the words you chose to describe an issue or person.

Usually, they are more reflective of how we view our own weaknesses. A boss was lamenting how an employee was not being “collaborative” in his efforts to work with the group. In fact, the employee was simply being outspoken about a long-term issue and expressing his willingness to address it with others. The boss felt that everyone should be solely focused on their own work and not getting involved in everyone else’s job. Because of his incorrect use of the word “collaborative,” other employees were confused and feared losing their jobs for collaborating – or maybe for not collaborating. The company continues to struggle to retain key employees and provide quality products and services to their clients, uncertain whether to get involved to resolve issues or not.

We as human beings love to be offended!

And, we retaliate by spreading gossip about how someone offended us, when in fact they may have been simply making a statement or agreeing with us. A woman shared her experiences as a boss and the amount of turnover she had dealt with recently. The employee she was speaking to indicated that yes, in fact, she had heard about the turnover and the boss’ struggles. The boss was offended that the employee agreed with her and passed her over for a promotion, even though she was most qualified for the position. The boss told others that the employee would not make a good team player.

Find out the facts!

Too often we automatically respond to situations based on how we feel in the moment. Sometimes we feel the need to defend something we have said or done that was misunderstood by others. It may be too late, as the damage is done. Normally, anything can be resolved through effective communication and persuasive listening. It takes a willingness to really hear about others’ perceptions of the situation and clarify the facts. Only then can you move forward within the context of the company’s vision and values, and make a commitment to the welfare of the team.

A new boss once inherited an employee he did not like. The employee had many more years of experience than the boss, so the new boss felt intimidated. While working on a project, the employee complained that there were some ongoing problems that needed to be addressed. The boss then heard from others that they didn’t believe there were any ongoing problems, and that they didn’t wish to work with the negative employee! The boss then used this information to terminate the employee. The boss was uncomfortable learning how to build a team in an environment where employees didn’t automatically and simply agree with one another. Unfortunately the issue hasn’t gone away, and the rumor mill has labeled the boss’s team a “bad group to work with.” That division of the company will soon be closed down since they are not longer profitable.

If there’s an elephant in the room, address it!

It won’t go away on its own! Organizations have lost huge numbers of members, customers, employees and revenues by not addressing ongoing concerns. Companies have lost great employees and lots of money because it failed to handle issues effectively, or because of the proverbial “skeleton in the closet.” These types of things will eventually come back to haunt you if they are not addressed effectively. Even if it doesn’t seem like a problem to you, someone may see it as a problem, or make it a problem.

A female employee complained about her new female manager to the point of taking a different job with a male boss. However, that didn’t stop her from continuing to complain about this female manager, who was dealing with liability issues her predecessor hadn’t handled well. Eventually the female manager left, after filing a lawsuit for harassment. When the employee was finally asked why she kept complaining, she stated, “I just don’t like working with women bosses. And, I liked my former male boss better.” Usually when there is a spark, a fire will follow. Many other harassment suits followed and the company’s assets were sold.

Get everyone on the same page by helping them understand the bigger picture (vision) as well as the steps needed to achieve it (action plans).

Remember this is a process, not an event. Hire a facilitator to help everyone – executives, managers and employees – work through issues, particularly those that keep reoccurring. Be committed to handling other issues that will arise, as well. Train everyone to handle both the ‘people and material’ side of meetings.

Have your managers and executives work with a coach or mentor.

A third party can help support them in developing the competence and confidence to address concerns and opportunities that arise, as they arise. What they learn can be as simple as how to communicate with others, how to be heard by others, how to resolve conflict confidently, and how to be “politically correct.”

Don’t rely solely on email to convey important messages or resolve conflict.

The average person has the reading and writing ability of a sixth grader. As a result, messages can easily be misread or misunderstood due to varying education levels, reading and writing capabilities and/or the cultural definition of words. For example, you may interpret this article one way and focus on something in particular, while others may focus on something else of importance to them. Each reader will then convey to others their belief about whether this article was of value to them or not. A rumor has been started!

Be responsible for what you convey to others.

Too often we believe that it is others’ responsibility to understand what we meant, even if it’s not what we said. Unfortunately we don’t live in an ideal world. Take time to check with the listener to hear what they’ve heard you say. The difference will be amazing.

Summary

There’s no getting around the fact that there will be gossip in almost every organization. How you use that fact, how you approach communicating with your staff, and how your company handles gossip, will have a huge impact on the success of your organization. Don’t make assumptions about how people receive and perceive information about the organization, the staff, and their own personal role, duties and performance. Taking a few very effective steps can significantly cut down on a lack of information, as well as miscommunication and misunderstanding that can start the gossip mill churning, fueling wild speculation, drama, hurt feelings and resentment.

© Jeannette L. Seibly, 2006-2007

 Jeannette Seibly, Principal of SeibCo — your partner in developing work and career strategies for selection, results and growth, we improve your bottom line!   Contact SeibCo, LLC @ 303-660-6388 or JLSeibly@comcast.net.  Website: http://www.SeibCo.com

HIRING MYTHS — What you don’t know can cost you!

The challenge and cost of a hiring mistake is one of the most-discussed, most frustrating, and most misunderstood problems that our businesses can face.

If you do not know what a single hiring mistake is costing you, take the annual salary for the position and multiply by 2.5.  This number represents productivity loss, recruiting and hiring cost, training cost, liability, unemployment, and the other 101 hidden costs that we usually try not to think of, or may be aware of, when we lose an employee.   

Hiring mistakes often begin with our believing in “hiring truths” only to find that in reality they are “hiring myths!”   When we hire someone who does not fit the job, we have already begun an almost inevitable course that will end with failure—and another hiring casualty.

Myth #1:        We can hire anyone to do anything.

We believe in the illusion that we can coach, train and motivate anyone to do anything.  Unfortunately we don’t live in an ideal world.  People come into our companies with their own “version” of how to do something and whether or not they will.  Sometimes we can train them in “our” way; many times we can provide surface training.  It’s what’s underneath (a.k.a. core behaviors, thinking styles and occupational interests) that can keep them from doing the job as it needs to be done.

Myth #2:        I’ve always relied on my gut.

While using your “gut” or “intuition” can provide insight, it’s far from a perfect science.  Usually, our gut feelings are based upon past experiences; we’re trying not to hire the same (unsuitable) person we did before, or find someone as great as the person that just left for a better job.  People are like ice bergs: You only see the tip, the part they wish to show us.  However, we miss the 75% that is covered up that will make or break their success in our business.

Myth #3:        We simply hire and fire until we find the “right one.”

In the meantime, the other “right” ones have left!   The cost of personnel has gone up, quality and customer relations have declined, and your bottom line has been severely impacted! 

Myth #4:        Any assessment tool will do.

Why don’t more of us use assessments to improve our hiring (and lower turnover)? Part of the answer lies in lack of education on the topic—not many of us have even attended a single seminar on use of scientific assessment tools. Part lies in reluctance to spend any money on new processes. Part of it, frankly, is the already overwhelming load we place on the people who are doing the hiring—they are untrained.

Fortunately, the science of assessments has produced increasingly useful and valid tools. While no assessment, or even a combination of assessments, guarantees success, the same study showed that use of personality, abilities, interests, and job matching measures can raise your success rate to 75% or better.

© Jeannette L. Seibly and John W. Howard, 2006

 Jeannette Seibly, Principal of SeibCo — your partner in developing work and career strategies for selection, results and growth, We improve your bottom line!   JLSeibly@comcast.net 

John W Howard, Ph.D., owner of Performance Resources, Inc. helps businesses of all sizes increase their profits by reducing their people costs. His clients hire better, fire less, manage better, and keep their top performers.  jwh@prol.ws

EMPLOYEES ARE OUR GREATEST ASSETS

OR?  Are they?  As business owners we continually hope for a perfect world where all employees have integrity, are loyal and fit perfectly into any role the company requires.

Unfortunately, it is not a perfect world.  People are unique and bring with them varying experiences, backgrounds, education and other credentials.  They also bring their own set of learning abilities, interests, and personalities!

Do we intentionally hire people who are not assets in our business?  NO!  Then how do they get hired?

We have relied on traditional hiring practices as a means of filling jobs with productive people that can cost upward to 5 times a person’s salary.

Did you know…

           …63% of all hiring decisions are made in the first 4.3 minutes of an interview?

           …Over 50% of all the resumes have false or misleading information on them?

 …to determine technical competency and interpersonal skills, we rely on interview questions such as: “What book(s) have you read recently?”  “What famous person would you like to go out to lunch with and why?”

…business owners spend more time purchasing a $35,000 piece of equipment than hiring someone at a salary level of $35,000?

How do we stop the insanity of continuing to use the same or similar counter-productive methods while expecting different results?

First and foremost, we need to get ourselves out of the way.

The problem is that we think we know enough.  After all, we have worked hard and are successful.  We believe anyone with enough drive and savvy can do what we do.  Many of us, in our efforts to be fair, expend our energies on training or coaching people to change, to fit the job.  We even try paying people more money to be productive and effective.

A better return on investment would be to discover smarter ways to screen, interview, assess, and make the right selection in the first place.   We’ve used the excuse that we’re doing all we can do legally!  However, there are a lot of gray areas in the hiring process that can legally work!

Second.  When we are hiring people, we need to be clear as to our own strengths and weaknesses.

When we hire people to do marketing, sales, and/or servicing of our clients, there is a risk that they may form stronger relationships with our clients than out company has formed. Problems may occur when this employee leaves. 

Be clear and specific about what you do best or dislike doing.  Stay in contact with your clients and/or prospects in a manner that supports them and your employees while sending a message that you care.  Having Non-Compete Agreements may help but too often they provide a false sense of security. 

Third.  Take the time to determine exactly what you need. 

Be open to restructuring or creating a job that will support your vision and mission of the company.  You may find people who have skills that can support your company, but they may not fit the traditional definition for the particular job you were looking to fill.

Fourth.  Establish a consistent procedure, and then follow it regardless of the person! 

The Director of Worldwide Security for a Fortune 500 company once said, “If the company has followed all their own written procedures, by the time final clearance for hiring is issued, there’s a .001 chance of finding out something that people didn’t already know!”

Many companies, in the hiring process, become attached to a person with whom they “connect.”  They lose their perspective when they do not follow their own policies and want to solely follow their intuition.

When we follow a well-defined selection process, we discover more about the person and they learn about us.  We are open to gathering more information by listening to others’ input (e.g., our employees, partners, customers, etc.).  We realize that there are times when our sole instincts are not the best guide.

If she or he is the right person, they will appreciate the time you have invested in determining whether or not they fit the company and job.   That starts the process of developing loyalty.

Fifth.  Be professional. 

Develop interview questions based on finding out “Can the person do the job?”  “Will the person do the job?”  “Does the person fit within this company?” 

Focus on what experience, education and background they have.  What skills can they bring that will resolve problems and issues we are experiencing in our company, industry, and/or profession?  Will they support our style of business?  Will they be:  Team-focused?  Highly competitive?  Capable of going with the flow?  Innovative?  Able to follow well established procedures?

Conduct reference checks, employment verifications, background checks, and core-value testing as well as personality and job fit assessment to ensure that your perceptions of the candidate are realistic, not idealistic.

The bottom line question for our business to truly be successful with each employee:  Is this truly the right person, in the right position, to create the right result for my business?

Fitting people into the right job reduces people-problems and provides businesses with people who are productive in jobs they love.  It supports a profitable vision of “employees are our greatest assets.”

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly and John W. Howard, PhD, 2005

Jeannette L. Seibly, Principal of SeibCo, LLC specializes in straight talk with immediate results and has been particularly successful in coaching and training business owners, their executives and managers, to achieve unprecedented results.   JLSeibly@gmail.com

John W. Howard, Ph.D., owner of Performance Resources, Inc. helps businesses of all sizes increase their profits by reducing their people costs. His clients hire better, fire less, manage better, and keep their top performers.  jwh@prol.ws

Stay Motivated During an Economic Downturn

With an economic downturn in business, you may have started feeling the pinch. Budgets have been slashed. Training and development dollars suspended. Travel curtailed. Salaries decreased. Expenses reduced.

During this time, some executives will succeed financially while others will fail. While it’s not a law of life that one must fail during a downturn, people who are afraid to learn and give it all they’ve got could find their personal financial growth negatively impacted. Those who succeed find their success depends upon their attitude and their ability to use this time as an opportunity to increase their business savvy.

When your company experiences a growth slowdown or experiences financial trouble, now is the time to improve your “business depth and breadth.” Or, your alternative is to become a job seeker. The Labor Department’s latest survey of employees found that even when the economy was still red hot, that even during the best of times, many displaced employees take a big hit. And, executives are not exempt! In fact, the rule of thumb is that the higher up the corporate ladder you go the longer it’ll take you to find another comparable position, not necessarily with the same financial renumeration!

A year or two after being laid off, over a fifth of former full-timers were either still unemployed or had left the labor force–and another 11% were either self-employed, working part-time or doing unpaid family work. Nearly 40% of re-employed workers had to change occupations to find work—and—39% back on full-time payrolls were receiving less pay than at their previous jobs (and over half of these suffered wage declines of at least 20%).

With the economy slowing down, now is the time to get yourself some executive insurance—developing your business depth and breadth, or another way of saying it: your business acumen. It can result in you staying and growing with your company or moving on, on your own terms, thus ensuring your personal financial growth.

Golden Rule #1: “IF YOU’RE WAITING FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO DO IT, SO ARE THEY!” What can you do when your company’s growth has slowed or is in financial trouble? First, and foremost, get in action NOW. What immediate challenges does the company face (whether or not you’re directly responsible for that area)? Interview different managers. Ask questions and really listen to their responses: “What are 3 issues facing us today?” “Why are these issues important?” “How do you suggest they be resolved?” “How much will it cost if we do?” “How much will it cost if we don’t?” 

Golden Rule #2: “DON’T BELIEVE IN THE NAYSAYERS.” Be careful not to fall victim to the naysayers of the company. In order for this process to work, you need to believe in your company, employees, and products/services. In asking the questions from Golden Rule #1, a common theme/issue will emerge. Investigate with outside people. Ask them their thoughts and opinions. Then get into action, put together a plan. Now is NOT the time to wait until all the i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed.

Golden Rule #3: “DON’T KILLTHE MESSENGER IN WORD OR IN ACTION.” Review with people, from within your company as well as outside of your company, your outline of the solution. Really listen to their ideas and whenever possible incorporate their ideas and thoughts. What do they like? What don’t they like? What alternatives could they provide? Don’t be afraid of brainstorming. True synergy will result in a better solution. Can they at least live with the plan even though it’s not ideal? Remember to listen to their rationale, even when you don’t agree. Ask for their help. If they’re not willing to, move on. [Remember, part of the reason your company is in its’ economic state is due to blaming it on external factors and not being responsible internally for moving projects forward, improving customer service, closing prospective sales, etc.]

Golden Rules #4, #5, & #6: “HAVE THE GUTS TO FAIL (do the best you can “by when” you say you will) … AVOID PERFECTIONISM (it can always be done “better”) … DON’T WAIT FOR ALL THE FACTS (there will always be more).” Establish 3-month goals. Hire a coach or consultant (YES, find the money) that will keep you on track and moving forward. This will keep you out of the quagmire that internal thinking has already gotten you into. It’ll be the best money ever spent.

Golden Rule #7: “NOT EVERYONE IS GOING TO AGREE WITH YOUR GOALS: BE CLEAR, BE CONSISTENT AND FOLLOW-THROUGH, THEY’LL COME AROUND.” Now is the time to stay focused on sales and delivering products and services on time and within budget. It’s not time to worry about the carpeting. Nor the new system you believe will save time someday. Curtail unnecessary spending. Stay focused on having money coming in the door while ensuring the highest quality of products/services are meeting customers’ needs.

Golden Rule #8: “BE WILLING TO LEARN YOUR LIFE LESSONS NOW INSTEAD OF WAITING FOR TOMORROW.” Remember to stay focused on achieving the results. You may need to layoff people. Many companies put this dreadful task off too long or jump at it too quickly to save a few bucks sacrificing future growth. This will require a level of objectivity that most managers fail to use and can be a very uncomfortable process. It can also become a turf war. The bad news is that you may win the battle, but ultimately you’ll lose the war if you’re not truly looking from a bigger picture. Ask questions: What happens with different projects if we cut those employees now? How do those projects impact the bottomline? Which employees are most versatile? Which employees have the best skills? Which employees work best with customers, internally and externally? These are the employees you need to keep. They may not be the employees you like best! You’ll learn a life lesson of being able to work with anyone at anytime, anywhere, under any circumstance. 

For instance: I have a client that did not like his boss. And, if I had told this client a year ago, when I began working with him, that he’d enjoy working with his difficult boss, he wouldn’t have hired me. We made extraordinary process, he was the only one achieving all of his goals in a $150MM company. During this process I suggested he talk with his boss about how to work better with him and apologize if necessary for anything he had not done to support the boss or the department. As a result of that meeting, he changed his attitude toward his boss, and vice versa. They became great allies. Also, his employees now liked his boss! His life lesson? He’s able and capable of working with anyone at anytime; and this is well recognized throughout his company.

Golden Rule #9: “HAVE FUN AND ENJOY YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS WELL AS THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF OTHERS.” There are no guarantees that if you follow all these “Golden Rules” that you’ll keep your current job, your company will succeed or stay in business. A benefit however is that you’ll learn to move forward with ease. You’ll learn valuable lessons about yourself, your relationship with goals and achieving them, and how to work effectively with different types of people to get the job done on time and within budget. Now is also the time to celebrate your successes and others’ achievements. While you’ll need to keep your primary focus on the company and achieving these goals, make sure to take a couple of hours weekly (for early morning breakfasts or after work meetings) to ensure your network is working in the event you need a job. Follow these Golden Rules and the possibility of multiple job offers, either from within or from other companies, will appear.

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2003

Seven Basic Requirements for Working Effectively with Anyone!

1. Do what you say you’ll do, when you say you’ll do it. Apologize when you “drop the ball.”

 2. Take an interest in the company, people, product, financials, safety, community, etc. Get to know what is of interest and/or concern to the other people. And, be able to converse appropriately.

3. Respect everyone on the team regardless of his/her opinions and/or personality. Make it a habit to not to judge anyone regardless of their manner of dress, organizational style, position in a company, etc.

4. Be willing to acknowledge others. Make it a habit to say “Please” & “Thank You.”

 5. Take into account other people’s ideas and concerns when developing a solution. Remember KISS: keep your ideas simple & smart so that they can be easily understood.

 6. Truly listen for understanding. Be aware of how you normally listen. (Normally we listen to comment, to form an opinion, or we really don’t listen at all because we think we already know what they’re going to say.) Remember you’re non-verbal actions speak much louder than your words.

7. Keep confidences. Don’t talk negatively about other people. (Hint: it’s also known as gossiping)

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2007

Jeannette Seibly is a nationally recognized coach, who has helped 1,000’s of people achieve unprecedented results.  She has created three millionaires.  You can contact her @ JLSeibly@gmail.com or http://SeibCo.com

Are You Experiencing the Smart Rat Syndrome?

 We all have experienced this syndrome in our career or business–some people deal with it on a daily basis! 

  •  We want to make issues harder or more complicated than they are. 
  • We love to procrastinate until we are forced into action.  Then, we love to complain about being over-worked or blame others for making it so hard to get resolution.  
  • We find out that we mis-perceived the heart of the issue, if we are truthful with ourselves.  Instead of talking with the client or co-worker to understand their concern, we have a one-person conversation with ourselves and make it more complicated than it is.
  • We find excuses for not doing what we should.  Some small business owners or job seekers have been known to use the excuse of getting their taxes done instead of picking up the phone to talk to potential clients or employers! (Yes, this does happen).

Most people experiencing this “smart rat syndrome” simply love to over-analyze an idea, situation or action item to the point of inaction.  They rely on the voice inside of their head to make up a valid reason for not doing what they know needs to be done.  It saps their confidence to make a difference, and can derail their career or business if it happens too often, or with the wrong person!

Why?  We get caught up in our “excuses” as to why we don’t do what we need to do.  We fail to realize that in order to have ease and fun in our current job (a.k.a. job satisfaction), make more money, have a wonderful new job, client or promotion, or take advantage of a great opportunity — we need to take initiative and make things happen, now. 

 Yes, you will make some mistakes – particularly if you’re operating as a lone ranger and not willing to ask for help.  Making mistakes is human – to a point.  (Making the same ones over and over only means you are not coachable!)  Being focused on the amount of activity, and not on the results, means you are exhausted, or others are exhausted from watching you!

What are your excuses?  The most common are time and money.  However, we all have 24/7 and spend money on what we need.  (Think of all the shoes in your closet that have never been worn!  If you are not a shoe-aholic, think of your “passion.”)

Simple ways to break out of this smart rat syndrome are:

  • Put together a written goal and action plan for each item or idea.  When we write it down, it helps to clarify what we need to do and usually makes accomplishing the idea or project easier than what we imagined.
  • Then, take one action step within the next 24 hours and continue taking baby steps daily.  For those of you who are perfectionists, remember it will never be perfect enough.  For those of you who are indecisive, there will always be more information for or against something.  To stay out of these common traps, talk with a trusted advisor or co-worker to keep moving forward. 
  • Learn to trust yourself and the process of achieving great results.  Normally the process will not look like you think it should look!  Talk it out with your coach so that you don’t miss hidden opportunities.
  • On days that you feel overwhelmed, simply spend 20 minutes of focused energy on the task.  We all have parts of the job we hate to do. Handle only one item on the list, each day.  It builds confidence – I can do it and I do it!
  •  Handle issues quickly instead of allowing them to grow from small concerns to large insurmountable problems.  Stay out of the conversation going on inside of your head, and truly listen to what the other person is saying.  They will normally make it easier than you would.
  • Pick up the phone and have a conversation – don’t rely on email.  Most of you are not good enough writers so that others can readily understand your intentions.
  • Summarize your agreements with your client, co-worker or boss at the end of your conversation and recap them verbally.  Then, follow-up with an email within 24 hours with at least one action item completed.
  • Remember, when you change a system and don’t communicate it, you leave the other person wondering what you will do next.  Communicate any changes, even if they seem insignificant to you, and what the next steps will be.

When all else fails – contact your coach to resolve your issue or concern now!  (Yes, stop thinking about doing it!  And, stop using the excuse that I’m not sure what I should say!)

 

Jeannette Seibly has been a human performance coach for over 16 years, with over 30 years of corporate, small business and management experience.  She has an uncanny ability to help her clients identify roadblocks, and help them focus to produce unprecedented results.  Each client brings their own unique challenges, and her gift is helping each one create their success in their own unique way.